


Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Uzuki

by Valentine20xx



Category: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2019-12-06
Packaged: 2020-10-04 02:14:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20463350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Valentine20xx/pseuds/Valentine20xx
Summary: When Karai decides to do her own operation, without the backing of her father, she earns herself a new ally and finds herself fighting a battle which is completely different to the one she came to New York to fight...





	1. Ripples In Fate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles © Nickelodeon/IDW Comics, where appropriate. Character Designs © Mirage Comics, under license from Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, except where appropriate. I do not claim ownership of any character.
> 
> This is based on an alternate timeline for the Nickelodeon series, which begins with a change, in that the meeting that kicks off Karai's Vendetta occurs when she first arrives in New York, instead of several weeks later in-universe, while April still has issues with the Turtles over the mistakes they made in those early battles.  
Due to plot changes brought about by this, Casey's role will be eliminated completely, since the reason April and Casey met, the Turtles screwing up royally, will not see them meeting. About what those changes might be, A little bit of advice… The name in the title is the name of one of Karai's loyal retainers for a large portion of this story. The other, Shinigami, wasn't seen much in series, but will be in this case.

Karai had been brought up by her father to know the value of good intelligence, supported by a good support base and intelligent, loyal followers. From what she read as she headed towards New York, if she was put in command of it, she'd suggest a few 'random' bouts of yubitsume, or meetings where the head of department is told not to bleed on the floor, within the parts of his staff where the most ineptitude was occurring.  
If they had expertise he couldn't lose, Well, She found that assistants suddenly became a valuable commodity for failing departments within parts of the Clan that were becoming a problem. Something about the fact that they didn't like finding out that their assistant no longer had fingers… or their weekly review included a tanto and a man brought in to help their head off their shoulders.

A good start would be whatever cut-rate mercenaries he used for his dealings with the kame ninja. When you had a high-profile, grossly over-paid in her opinion, mercenary group suddenly see their leader in a pool of his own blood after reporting their failure, generally they stopped reporting failures.  
Admittedly, nine times out of ten in those cases, After you discreetly put to death their replacement, usually they got the message and stopped lying.  
It was only after that, they also got a lot more competent and sometimes even started taking the initiative.

A good example was with the Yakuza back home. They'd made an attempt to form an alliance against the Foot, using a relatively weakly defended part of their territory. The leader of said alliance was found dead, his empire simply given away to her as a birthday present. Oddly, there was no more talk of alliances.  
The daughter of that man was currently handling her affairs in Japan, while his son was an unfortunate accident. His sister had accidentally used the katana she'd given her as a gift to behead him when he sat down with the other Yakuza heads. She was the only one still standing afterwards.

Due to this, she'd not gone straight for the 'kame ninja' who covered the reports, instead heading to New York in secret, supported only by Shinigami. Within moments, Shinigami, as a cat, had observed a day's activities of the kame ninja, coming back with an interesting approach vector…  
One April O'Neil, daughter of Kirby O'Neil, a scientist whose location was stubbornly and annoyingly _'unknown'_. They were her chance to deal with the kame ninja her father so hated, without ending up impaled on the end of a katana. That was the least satisfactory result.  
It was only a couple of hours since she'd finished setting up her forward base for her new operation, well away from the massive skyscraper that was her father's headquarters. The plan had been simple. She'd already noticed that things seemed to revolve, rather than what her father thought, to instead of the kame ninja, around April, just from Shinigami's observations, the reason her father pursued the easy target being that they clearly used a known variant of Foot ninjitsu, drawing his interest immediately.

This is what had brought her to be sitting at the favourite eating spot of the Turtles and their human ally, the fact they served a form of pizza flavoured dumpling confirming the fact, her 'cat' in her lap, having "accidentally" struck out at the girl she was observing, the cloth she used to stop the bleeding placed in a plastic bag for later use. The fact that the cloth was sealed in a sterile pouch beforehand, and the bag it was put back in was a sample bag, was testament to the level of accident it was.  
This is _not_ what brought her however to have stayed for well beyond the time she needed to, having the blood sample, or explained why she'd made the choice of getting Shinigami a plate of sushi fish, and herself a plate of the 'pizza gyoza', while preparing to make small talk with Ms. O'Neil. Even Shinigami was making curious looks, from over the bowl of fish scraps, about why they weren't making their way to the apartment, instead making the risky choice to make contact with her.

"So, What is your name?" April had asked. She'd thought about it, coming up with a name that had popped into her head, not sure where she'd heard it from.  
"It's Miwa, My cat's name is Shinigami..." She'd offered, scoffing mentally at the name. 'Harmony'… Like she could bring harmony to anything.  
"Murakami, Wait a moment, Just had a thought. I want to change my order..." April had stated, noticing him slide one serving onto the plate beside him, "Just regular gyoza please. And a second plate of sushi, Shin seems to have finished the one she was given."

Karai frowned when she heard her use the, literal, pet name for Shinigami. Only she called her Shin. She was surprised however at the fact she'd noticed the cat-witch had been hungrier than she'd expected. However, what intrigued her was why she'd changed her order from pizza gyoza.

"Why did you change your order?" Karai asked, "Notice I ordered them?"  
"If it wasn't for the fact it's still an interesting twist on the recipe, I'd be telling Murakami to take them off the menu..." She had declared in a low tone, while Karai's eyebrows rose. This wasn't what she was expecting, not at all. Shinigami even looked up from the new plate of fish she had been given. This was news, and potentially good news for her father. She'd got something that would interest him, but wasn't sure what.  
"We can still share..." Karai replied, taking a gamble as she added, "Give it a send-off between friends?"  
"Friends, I'd like that… Sure, That sounds good, Miwa..." April stated, Karai finding she was coming to like 'Miwa' as a name, "Anyway, I got saved by the guys who made them, seemed like they were my friends… Not like you. I don't see you and Shin destroying my life for some stupid vendetta…"

This was what brought her to the present, Karai having laughed lightly, while feeling a mental gut punch. She knew that likely it would be exactly what she'd be doing if she gave her father openly the information she gleaned from April. So, Shinigami had looked up at her as she excused herself to go use the nearby toilet area. Once she was out of sight, Shinigami changed into her human form, as Karai splashed water over her face, trying to calm herself.  
"This is bad, This is really bad..." Karai sighed, "Did she have to say that? Did she have to bring up that damn vendetta, how she's estranging herself from the kame ninja because of it… I can't do it, Shin. I can't..."  
"She trusts you, that's the problem..." Shinigami mused, "Now, we still do the blood work. Otherwise, it'll drive you crazy working out why she's so damn important..."  
"What about my father? If he..." Karai asked, as Shinigami took out her set of keys for the apartment, removing the cat's paw fob.  
"He doesn't have any interest in O'Neil-san..." Shinigami offered, "Also, why are you worried about your father..."  
"I felt sick to the stomach when she mentioned the vendetta..." Karai stated, "She's not from either of the clans, she's neutral… She'd end up kidnapped, or worse, if my father catches wind of her..."  
"I have a feeling she's not as neutral as you think… But we're not the enemy, We're a new friend and her cat. And if we keep being that, the kame ninja, your father… Neither of them will realise she is _our_ ally, not their's… and, if the vendetta becomes an… issue, she will be our closest ally," Shinigami stated, changing back.  
"You're right… Right now, My father doesn't even know I'm here… If I keep using Miwa, it shouldn't raise any suspicions with my father..." Karai mused, before walking out with the keys, accepting her plate of gyoza.  
"Look, I have an apartment nearby. If it gets any worse between you and your friends, and you need a place to crash..." She'd offered, tossing April the keys. She didn't use the front door, even though she did have a key for it. She'd specifically bought the place since the skylight had a way to open it from the outside...

A short time later, she was sat with Shinigami, looking at her, trying to figure out what her angle would be going forward. She'd just made an alliance that was forcing her to pick sides against her father, and that would not go down well.  
"You made a valuable ally, Karai-sama..." Shinigami stated, "If she moves in… Then the situation with the kame ninja has become untenable, and we… deal with them. She'll be as invaluable as Sakuya is in Japan..."  
"And if my father asks why I'm going ronin? Sakuya was me dealing with anti-Foot sentiment. This is not like that," Karai asked, "He'll notice my operation if I start making strikes he didn't authorize against them..."  
"He's not going to think you went ronin. More likely he'll congratulate you on your forward thinking, think your strikes against the kame ninja are for his benefit," Shinigami offered, "Look, for now, I'll hang around Murakami's and keep an eye on the pizza gyoza situation… See if she does take it off on them,"  
"Are you sure you're not looking out for any sushi off-cuts?" Karai ribbed, Shinigami having the honesty to nod sheepishly, "Seriously, Let me know if she does go through with that..."  
"And you get Baxter to look over that blood sample, make any excuse to make sure he doesn't ask whose it is..." Shinigami stated, transforming before disappearing off to do her own intelligence on the strange situation they were in… as well as get some more free sushi.

A few days passed, Karai having slipped the request into Baxter's in-tray, with several confidentiality tags on it, citing that operational security is tantamount, 'tantamount' being nicknamed 'tanto-mount' when Karai or Shredder stated it, since you obeyed what she wanted unless you wanted to be the mount for a tanto, and that usually nullified any future employment plans...  
However, the more important thing was that earlier that same day, Shinigami had reported that pizza gyoza was 'off the menu', adding, as an aside, that Murakami considered her his best non-paying customer. When she went to the apartment that evening, she wasn't surprised to see April there with a couple of soup bowls, and a carton of take out. She clearly had taken Karai up on that offer, which indicated that something hadn't gone smoothly, but she wasn't sure how bad.

"Remind me to put a sign on the front door… For mail, visitors and cold callers only. Friends, The skylight isn't locked..." April offered dryly, before adding,"Wait, the… kame ninja would also use the skylight. Anyway, What do you think of turtle soup, my treat?"  
Karai felt a mild thundering sound in her ears, calming down and schooling her features. Clearly things had gone wrong if the kame ninja's closest ally had ordered, completely straight faced, some turtle soup from what was clearly Murakami's. The gyoza that were part of the side order were most likely not pizza ones, if Shinigami's information had been correct, a quick try of one showing she was right. A quick check of the Foot Clan database, claiming a message on her phone, showed April's file had been closed, since she was no longer associating with them.  
"In case you're wondering, There's not going to be any more pizza gyoza..." April stated, "Murakami was… nice enough to tell them that their money was no longer good at his shop. He then used one of his cooking knives to symbolically cut a handful of the pizza-marked tiles into little pieces, after I helped him remove them from the machine… They use a particular pizza place now on phone orders. Only place that can fulfil their orders..."  
"OK, What exactly did your friends do to you that you basically told Old Man Murakami to blacklist them in such a final way?" Karai asked, slightly puzzled as to why they only used one place. Probably allergies.  
"They get me into so much trouble, then, when I try to solve it myself, they treat me like some weak, defenceless bystander… Because I followed them around, My life is a mess, I was spending more time hiding out in the sewer than having a life… So, I gave them the brush-off, and moved in," April offered, "Miwa, honestly, tell me… Have you ever been patronizing towards me or lied?"  
Karai hid the wince well, over the fact she had lied by omission to her, helped by the fact she'd got a phone call on her private phone, from Baxter of all people. "Excuse me for a moment..."

She vaulted up through the skylight to get a quiet place to take the call. The fact April didn't even react was noticeable. She guessed that ninja in New York was becoming normal for her. Admittedly, considering her quip when she arrived, she probably expected that an oriental woman in New York likely was a ninja.  
"What crap is your father up to now?!" Baxter snapped as she answered the phone, "Half the DNA sequences in that sample are not in my database!"  
"Baxter, What are you talking about?" Karai asked, her heart clenching. This was going to strain her burgeoning friendship with April if Baxter was finding issues with the DNA sample.  
"From what I can tell, half the DNA sequences are pretty much boilerplate human. The others are non-terran… What has your fa-… That's odd. Computer, check X chromosomes again… This sample is female?! I thought all the mutates were male..." Baxter started, and she then heard typing, realising that Baxter was going to start doing cross-referencing to find out why a female sample had abnormal genetics. And there was a very small reference pool, and she knew it.  
"Baxter, This is an order from me. It might as well be from my father. You don't need to check the source, Consider that it was internal," Karai stated, the typing stopping abruptly, "It's something I'm checking up on for my father… I'll be over to pick up the results. You dare show them to my father, or if I find you've made a copy, and you might well end up with your career terminated with prejudice… Please remember, Security is tantamount, and you could have ruined everything being nosy..."

Dropping back down, she noticed April hold out the bag from the takeout, half of the contents sat on the table, served out.  
"Let me guess… Family crisis?" April offered, "You look like something bad has happened..."  
"Medical emergency..." Karai stated, "Friend of mine was having some blood work done up, and it's not come out how they expected..."  
"Story of my life. Dad has me on a list who can't have blood work done, due to some medical issues my mother had..." April stated, "Also means I can't donate blood..."  
"Anyway, Gotta go see what the problem is..." Karai continued, realising that her father knew all about April's odd genetic make-up, and had tried to avoid a genetic make-up being done until now.

This was very much more than _just_ the vendetta. This was bigger than she thought, by far.  
Baxter had said 'non-terran', which meant she had genetics which were artificial or worse. Which meant she was the key to _everything_, and right now, she had her safe. She now _knew_ what made the kame ninja guard April, and what would make her invaluable to her father. But, oddly, she didn't care, except that her father _would not_ know. She had to find a way to hide her in plain sight.

"Look, They'll be fine…" April offered, "Anyway, Enjoy your soup. Someone like you won't spill a drop..."  
"Is this about the skylight?" Karai asked, April nodding, "So how long have you been crashing here?"  
"It didn't take more than a week," came the bitter reply, "Look, Miwa, there's only one person, ninja or kunoichi, who gets in that skylight. Anyone else… I'm getting a panic alarm. I'll let you have a way to shut it off by remote,"

An hour, all the gyoza and half the soup, later, Karai noticed one of the kame ninja, on a nearby rooftop, quickly identifying it as the one she wanted, the one referred to as 'Donatello'.  
"You! Kame Ninja!" She snapped, 'Donatello' freezing as she approached, "I've been looking for you for the past hour!"  
"Who are you, and what do you want?" He asked, looking her over to check for hidden weapons. Very very few people were out here at this time of the night. Especially Japanese.  
"My name is Miwa, and I need your help with something…" She stated, "It's sensitive and I need it looking into urgently."  
"I don't know how I could help…" He offered, "Would love to know how come you actually called me a Ninja Turtle from a glance..."  
"You're a turtle, and your… attire filled in the rest," She stated, before pausing, and eye-rolling deliberately as she stated, "One of your brothers… Michelangelo… is also a nightmare for your operational security..."  
"OK, We'll look into this. I assume you'll be waiting here over the next few days?" He asked, Karai nodding.  
"I will trust you over one thing, on the understanding that you keep the information confidential..." Karai stated, "The name of the person whose blood work this is… Uzuki."  
She then handed him the paperwork, deliberately drinking from her cup of soup as he slipped it into his pouch, hiding the smirk as Donatello winced upon recognising the branding on the cup in question, then she was gone.

Even the kame ninja would come to understand Foot Clan operational security soon enough. She couldn't use the usual methods.  
Well, how would she get a tanto past their shells, and they already had a shortage of fingers... So, instead, she reminded them of what they'd recently lost, twice over...


	2. A Kunai In The Works

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Donatello looks into the genetics, _everything_ changes...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things like yubitsume and seppuku are known ways for Japanese crime lords to deal with failures. And yes, for obvious reasons, it is an effective deterrent. Well, losing fingers means losing the ability to do a lot of things. And losing your head generally means losing the ability to do the rest of them.  
Also, the trivia about lactose, found, most notably in this case, in cheese, and turtles. Totally true, which is why I see them avoiding it, and having a very limited diet plan as a result.

April sighed as she watched Karai arrive back from her errand.

“So, When did you get my blood work done?” She asked, “You weren’t exactly discreet when you collected my blood, and the cat normally doesn’t strike out at me...”

Karai looked at where Shinigami was asleep, and sighed. “The person who looked into it, they couldn’t find a match for the genetics of part of your blood sample...” Karai stated, “The reason your father didn’t want you giving blood… is that you’re not human. Hell, I looked over the results myself, what they did, and something freaky is going on...”

“Do tell… Considering, recently we’ve had a mutant wandering round downtown every other week, I have to wonder what _is_ freaky...” April sighed, “I’ve stopped watching Channel Six since their star reporter, Verne something, can’t help but be sensationalist about it...”

“You look at the results, they’re normal. Hell, outside what caused them to get antsy, they could pass for human,” Miwa stated, taking out the copy she’d kept, April studying them.

“I’ve studied mutant blood, it’s not pretty,” April sighed, then frowned at something, before taking out a small vial, taking a sample of Shinigami’s blood and studying it.

“OK, Not human blood,” She stated, checking it under a microscope, “But gives me an idea what genetics I should look for...”

She then put a drop of blood from herself on a slide, and added a drop of the contents of the vial, which Miwa recognised to be a very small amount of mutagen.

“No reaction?!” April muttered, trying again, “OK, _Now_ it’s freaky...”

Meanwhile, Donatello studied the same information, wondering why this ‘Miwa’ girl would give him a genetic mark-up for someone.

“Uzuki, Uzuki...” He muttered, Splinter stiffening as he overheard him. Unlike Donatello, he knew the Japanese names of the month.

“What’s up, Master?” He asked, “It’s the name of someone a girl named Miwa asked me to look over the blood work for...”

Splinter’s eyebrows visibly rose. He’d been in contact with a girl named, specifically _Miwa…_ He was sure she was dead, but, if he was right...

“If what your… friend told you is right, You know Uzuki,” He stated, “Meanwhile, My son, if I am right with my thoughts, _I_ know Miwa.”

“Weird… Anyway, Half of this is definitely human… OK, Let’s see… Orangutan, Nope, Shark, Nope, Duck-billed platypus… Definitely not… This isn’t like a mutant’s blood mark-up, it’s too clean...” He continued to state, before sighing, and deciding to do a blood mark-up on a dead kraang, for science. The dead kraang was admittedly also there for science, but different science. And he’d kill Michealangelo for it later.

“Correlation against DNA on file found...” The computer stated as he pulled up the data, pausing on his study of the genetics of the sentient brain, to see the portion of the genetics that he’d put aside from Miwa’s friend Uzuki… matched the Kraang within tolerances. If he’d had eyebrows, they’d have shot up. This wasn’t a mutation, this was a natural hybrid of Human and Kraang!

Whoever this blood mark up was for, one of their parents was one of the aliens who were infiltrating New York.

Deciding to consider that Splinter, of all people, said he recognised Uzuki’s name, he got out a japanese-english dictionary. He’d not got through the first few pages before he found it, in, of all places, the section on common terms and phrases.

‘_January – Mutsuki_

_February – Kisaragi_

_March – Yayoi_

_April – Uzuki..._’

_Uzuki was a japanese word meaning April…_

_Meaning_ _Uzuki __was__ April…_

_Meaning April was half-Kraang…_

The dictionary slipped from his fingers as he realised that they’d been going about the entire O’Neil situation _completely_ wrong. “What’s up, Don?” Raph asked, “You look like you’ve seen a ghost...”

“I’ve been doing a database on genetic samples, trying to come up with some way to figure out the difference between a mutated person and their original genetics...” Donatello bluffed, “I just found something out thanks to Mikey’s prank… The Kraang, I don’t think they were after Kirby O’Neil. April has Kraang genetic markers all over her genetics. She’s half-Kraang,”

“Wait, Wait…” Mikey stated, “You’re seriously saying her father mated with one of them?”

“Well, At least we now know they have female Kraang...” Donatello deadpanned, “She’s got protection anyway, and clearly doesn’t want us around...”

“I think the stunt at Murakami’s told us that!” Raph snapped, “It’s really hard to find blind people who do takeout you know… and over half the pizza places don’t do lactose-free… I do not want to end up barfing up my dinner since it has real cheese on it!”

“Donatello, Let us leave that. Come with me...” Splinter stated, Donatello following, “My son, we have had some very good revelations… Now, Let us test my theory. If I am right, I have something to offer your new friend… Even if I am not… You all made a terrible mistake considering her a bystander...”

Karai looked as Donatello arrived, looking like he’d been successful.

“Miwa, Is this April’s genetics?” He asked, for her to nod, confirming he had figured out her clue, “The unknown half… It’s from some kind of race called the Kraang, They’ve been causing both April and ourselves trouble recently… However, while it is why I needed to meet with you, that is not why I am here now...”

He then stepped aside as a hooded figure then stepped out, Donatello bowing lightly, for the figure to take out a slender box.

“A gift, from me to you…” The figure stated, a ghost of a smile in his words, “Miwa, I am aware of your lineage, and do not blame you for your actions in the past as long as our paths cross in alliance. This gift will be useful to train… Uzuki, since I cannot. Please accept them as a sign of good faith. We will not pursue your location or Uzuki’s unless we really have to,”

He then disappeared into the shadows. Karai hiding a wince. That had clearly been the kame ninja’s master. He had basically told her that he knew _exactly_ who she was, but clearly the kame ninja did not. The even more odd thing was that he’d taken her into his confidence. Clearly, something was not quite right about this.

“I thank you and your master for what you have done...” Karai stated, handing him a blood sample, “You have assured me that we are able to work together mutually for our own benefit. If these Kraang cross my path… they will have problems walking afterwards… I will help you there, and attempt to find out what they want with Uzuki.”

Donatello then left, looking puzzled at the blood sample she’d given them, since she’d not mentioned it was _her_ blood sample, and she opened up the box. A pair of master crafted fighting fans were revealed, and she paused, thinking to herself, before deciding that, maybe, their master was right…

These WOULD be good for training April. And she would be looking into dealing with these Kraang. For now, they were not associating with her father, which meant she could fight them without causing an issue. But, if they joined him…

That would be a problem. And she would choose Uzuki and Shinigami over allying with them. For now, however, she had something to look into. Their master seemed proud of her when he mentioned her lineage. Why would he be _proud_ of the daughter of his enemy?

That’s what brought her to the present. Karai was sat in her apartment, Shinigami prowling around her legs. She’d had to mail Sakuya the blood samples for her father, got from a training injury, and herself, due to the fact the Kraang were sighted operating within most of the high technology businesses. The geneticist who worked within her department was former Yakuza, and came highly recommended.

Oh yes, And almost none of what she found out got onto her father’s desk without having been sanitized heavily, unlike with Baxter, where everything usually passed over her father’s desk eventually. Including Uzuki’s genetics, unless she dealt with it quickly.

"Real cheese pizza... Thanks, Miwa. The guys eat pizza, right? The cheese is lactose-free. Last time I actually bought a real cheese pizza, well, it didn't go well..." April stated as she took a slice of the pizza Karai had brought, "Not one pizza that goes down there has a scrap of real cheese on it. It’s why they have to be very careful with their takeout orders..."

“Would you like training, to spite them?” Karai asked, changing the subject.

“Their master, Splinter, won’t teach me anything...” April asked, for Karai to pick up a pair of chopsticks, using a small knife to whittle one down to a point, before flinging it in a seemingly random location. The foot clan member who had overheard her offer didn’t appreciate the chopstick to his head. April never noticed. She was getting annoyed with the guards her father gave her. She’d had to kill every single one who had cut into her Uzuki time.

“Lesson 1 – In the right hands, anything is a valid weapon.” Karai offered, mentally adding, ‘Even you...’

“And you?” April asked, “I guess you are the right hands?”

“Uzuki, The only hands I plan to have go anywhere near your upbringing are your father… and me,” Karai decided. And, at that point, even if she didn’t know it yet, their relationship dynamic changed completely.


	3. Playing Every Side At Once

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, Uzuki _is_ April. In this universe, she never met Casey, having been offered a more immediate offer by Karai, who decided to do something unheard of, a completely un-monitored blood mark-up of April, meaning every side **_except_** the Kraang know part of why she's incredibly important.

** _J_ _apan, _ _A few hours earlier_ **

A severely dressed figure stepped out of an expensive looking car, looking round before approaching the building in front of her, and tapping out a code on the keypad by the door. The door buzzed then she stepped inside.

“What do you desire, Sakuya-hime?” The girl that met her inside asked, for her to take out a set of pictures.

“Look for some kind of figure similar to these men. They travel in very obvious groups, and have an almost artificial gait to them. They also have a unique form of speech...” She stated, pressing the play button on a small tape player, ‘_We are the ones known as the Kraang. You will surrender to the ones known as the...’_ issuing from it, before she continued, “You are to locate any groups of these ‘Kraang’ and ensure they do not make our lives difficult. Lady Karai wishes them terminated, as an example to their leadership. Attacks to the lower abdomen are required, the rest is just an artificial construct,”

_ **The Present** _

A group of nondescript asian men looked up as they enjoyed a meal, notably at a restaurant that was owned by the Foot, as a group of what were clearly kunoichi approached them, the other men nearby moving away. The owner just nodded lightly to them before leaving himself. He knew what was going to happen. He'd lost three staff the last time he interfered.

“What is the thing that you want with us? We are...” The first of the men asked the group of female ninja who were approaching, before a kunai was flung into his gut, causing him to go silent as his jumbled up first question told them exactly what they needed to know. They'd located the Kraang cell.

“We have a problem which has developed. We need to do the act known as retreat...” One of the other men offered, not able to retreat before him and the rest of his group were quickly and efficiently dispatched, but not before he was able to take out a communicator, the person on the other end looking as worried as a brain could, as the surviving Kraang, due to only getting a flesh wound, were dealt with.

“Kraang-sama, We of the Foot wish to state one thing. You interfered with Foot Clan business, Your kin will be forfeit if we notice them in our territory. All hail The Shredder.” The lead kunoichi stated firmly but sweetly, with a polite bow... before using a throwing star to cut the connection.

_ **New York, The Same Time** _

Kraang Prime scowled as the message cut off, snapping, "Who is this Shredder?"

"Shredder is the one who is in control of that which calls itself The Foot Clan," The Kraang it contacted stated, "It is indeed a problem which has developed..."

"You think?! Who owns that huge skyscraper over there?" Kraang Prime stated, "I just hope that it's just a splinter group. It would be disastrous if the Shredder himself decided to continue the purge... Pull out of Japan for now,"

Meanwhile April was following her friend into Shredder’s headquarters, dressed in a simple kunoichi outfit, of a hood and mask, along with a catsuit with repurposed sports padding in grey and a raven-haired wig. Miwa hadd promised to explain who she was, and this was part of it.

When they approached the Foot building, April understood why she was in disguise. Miwa was part of the Foot Clan, and very possibly a high-ranking member, from how all they did was salute when she walked past, not even checking security. In hindsight, she was glad they _didn't. _The fact the apartment wasn’t swarming with Shredder’s mercenaries was why April would give her the benefit of doubt. She suddenly suspected things like her flinging the chopstick and ‘missing’ a target when throwing one of her weapons were actually aimed.

Why Miwa was doing this, she didn’t know, especially the fact she was heavily disguised and unbound, even armed, her skill with the fighting fan passable, but good enough to ensure if there was a problem… It would be her opponent’s problem. Well, Unless the problem ended up being Shredder, but she doubted Karai was that high up.

“I go by the alias Karai here. Recent developments have made me feel this is not my real name, even if it is the name I was given by the one who calls himself my master...” Miwa stated, for them to head to the penthouse floor. She then realised quite _how_ high ranking, and mentally swore. Correction... She was far outclassed the moment a problem happened.

“Ah, Karai, my daughter...” Shredder stated, “Reports say you and your kunoichi have been attacking some very random targets... Please give me a good reason, and talk quickly...”

April looked towards Karai, who gave a quick handsign for her to be silent before she bowed to him. The fact that she had outright stated she didn’t trust what Shredder had told her meant she obeyed, and April copied her motion. Something bigger than she was aware of was going on, and likely was related to the whole blood work-up she now knew had been done on her.

“We have located a group of... illegal aliens known as the Kraang. They operate similar to the distasteful Yakuza, encroaching onto Foot-held areas in an attempt to install sympathetic sycophants in the place of people of power,” Miwa reported, “I have begun training people to deal with the Kraang, including my associate here, which was part of why I was here...”

“Very well. Now I know why it was random. Spies are not to be tolerated, especially when they refuse to be turned. Next, Do you know why Baxter was in a bit of stress recently?” Shredder asked, what could have been a smirk crossing his face under his mask at the way she referred to the Kraang.

“Apparently, the Kraang have been here longer than we thought, and are more entrenched than we would like. An abnormal blood sample which I took from one of my kunoichi showed they had Kraang DNA. As you can see, It did not compromise their loyalty,” Miwa stated, looking towards April, who nodded, “Since you can see she is not a risk, Please remind him what operational security means, Master… I believe one of his new hires was using the computers for unauthorized purposes,”

“If it had been a problem, you are right. She would not be here much longer… And, Yes, I am aware of that particular scientist,” Shredder asked, Miwa nodding, “Thank you for locating another risk to the Foot, even if it was done unconventionally. Meanwhile, I will remind him that you keep separate records of your kunoichi for a reason. You are both dismissed. Please make sure to send out recognition information on secure channels, and these... infidels will be dealt with,”

Miwa and April bowed, before leaving. Once they’d left, April looked towards her friend, now knowing why everyone was on eggshells about her blood work.

“That blood test… It was my blood, wasn’t it?” April asked, Miwa nodding.

“I am sorry you had to find out that way...” Miwa stated, “And I see you no different due to it,”

“It proved something else, Miwa. You made it clear by how you talked to your… father… that he will never find out that I am their former associate...” April stated, “I guess we are a fourth faction then...”

“A fourth faction?” Miwa asked, curious.

“The Kraang, Hamato Yoshi and the Turtles, Oroku Saki and the Foot Clan, me and you...” April offered, Miwa looking thoughtful, before nodding.

“We will associate with both the Turtles, however risky it might be, and the Foot, but never choose sides unless ordered to,” Miwa stated, “I only brought you here since the blood tests would have got to my father undiluted otherwise, and our alliance would be found out when he investigated further… In fact I am having my own blood tested, since I am not sure he is my father...”

April nodded. This would likely be the first and last time she met the Shredder. She'd faced down the most dangerous man in New York, and come out alive, and maybe even knowing more about herself than when she entered, impossibly.

Within Baxter’s lab, a short time after Karai had left, he looked up as Shredder entered.

“I thank you for helping confirm that a recent unknown threat to the Foot Clan had ended up creating potential infiltrators,” Shredder stated, “It was one of Karai’s kunoichi that she was testing, due to her own biochemists finding issues with their blood work… She just made her report, after verifying the infiltration, and that it did not compromise the Clan. The kunoichi in question met with me anonymously, and proved her loyalty,”

“I… f… f… f… forgot she operated all the kunoichi the Foot Clan uses,” Baxter stammered, for Shredder to weigh a tanto in his hand, before it ended up in the stomach of the man that Karai had fingered, the scientist crumpling to the floor in a pool of his own blood.

“Operational security is tantamount. There was no additional risk to the Clan, so you did not need to deal with it further,” Shredder stated. Apparently, Baxter was too important to be a tanto mount, but that’s why the Clan seemed to operate an endless number of assistants to it’s major staff. And the message was loud and clear.

It was handled internally, and did not need Lord Shredder’s attention. Since it got his attention, it became a problem. Shredder didn’t even think to ask for the name of the kunoichi. They were Karai’s purview. There was no risk to him, so there was nothing further to be said.

_ **A few weeks later** _

April and Miwa sat down for one of their regular meetings with the Turtles, a suggestion to help clear the air after the incident, notably at one of the tables outside Murakami's. Murakami had even begun doing the pizza gyoza after April and Miwa returned and confirmed the cause of the incident had been solved, and even if he was blind, the fact he did six orders of pizza gyoza got him putting out a plate of fish scraps, which earned a meow and told him that he was right. They'd made up.

“Me and my new partner just used one of her contacts in Japan to cause the Kraang and Foot Clan to engage in open conflict,” April stated, “As a result, Our situation is no longer of their concern. In fact, they’re doing half our job for us...”

“So, This is your new outfit?” Michealangelo asked, the cat April was stroking jumping away. April was wearing the same outfit as she’d used for Shredder this time with dark yellow padding, which would be her attire as 'Uzuki' going forward.

“So, you made the Foot Clan declare war on the Kraang?” Leonardo stated, “Makes our job much easier. Imagine if they went into alliance...”

“That is exactly why we did it. Unlike before, I don’t just plan to just hang about in my new apartment...” She offered. Miwa then made some hand signals, April’s hood pulled up as she followed Miwa, the Turtles following behind.

They found themselves looking at a group of Kraang who were loading up some equipment into a van. The first one looked at Miwa’s armour, and they prepared to flee, since it clearly was recognised by them. Just before they got to the van, a kunai to fly towards the engine block, beeping for a second, before the engine block exploded, along with the driver compartment, the Kraang who had been sat in the front of the van dead instantly.

“Go get the boxes...” April hissed to Donatello, "I deliberately aimed for the front..."

“We have a problem which has developed. We need to do the act known as retreat...” One of them declared.

“They are coming to be famous last words, Kraang-san...” Miwa quipped, “I am getting bored with them. Do you know any others?”

“The mission for which we came has failed, We must...” Another offered, before another of the exploding kunai hit him in the gut.

“Die abruptly?” April quipped, “There is no retreat. Just termination...”

The Turtles were shocked with how April had changed, watching as another kunai buried itself deep in the gut of another of the Kraang, and she then drew one of the fans Splinter had given Miwa, Miwa drawing the other.

“That’s much more effective than most tactics...” Leonardo noted, noting both Miwa and April were making their strikes with either the kunai or fans towards the lower stomach, where the Kraang itself was, rather than the obvious targets for most people, the head and upper chest. A few minutes later, the attack was done, and both Miwa and April disappeared into the night.

“OK, Next time someone says April can’t fight, we’ll remind them of when she schooled _us_ on how to deal with the Kraang...” Raph added before they left themselves. Within the hour, and a check of a clipboard found in the undamaged part of the van, confirming it was already paid for, the shipment was given, at April’s suggestion, to Miwa for redistribution, with some of the cutting edge equipment ending up left with the Turtles, to give their equipment for creating an anti-mutagen a leg up.

A quick confirmation over the following week saw anything that the Kraang were loading into vans stolen from them. The Turtles were left unaware that the Foot Clan ended up with the vast majority of the scientific equipment, while weapons and similar were stored in a warehouse that was controlled by people Karai brought in. A small amount ended up, in a damaged state, in Foot hands, with believable damage to key components, to satisfy Shredder's own curiosity.

“We’re not going to have the Foot Clan’s soldiers armed with Kraang weaponry,” April had stated, as she worked on something based on something she found in a shipment, “_If_ this conflict turns troublesome, and either side requires advanced weaponry, ‘locate’ the warehouse...”

Miwa nodded, realising what April had said. If Shredder _needed_ weapons comparable to the Kraang, she’d discover a warehouse full of weapons, and likely have the Turtles grab part of the same shipment, to reverse engineer new weapons. They would _not_ be used to give an unfair advantage to either.

Meanwhile, in another part of New York, Irma frowned as she tried to call April again, before getting out a communicator.

“_What is the problem for which you are calling about?_” The Kraang she called asked.

“I’ve lost track of the girl. She’s gone dark," She snapped. 

“_The one known as Shredder did __a__ declar__ation that made_ _the ones known as the Kraang__ an enemy triad..._” The Kraang stated, “_The ones known as The Foot are very protective of their territory. __We are losing personnel rapidly,_”

Kraang Subprime sighed. Just great. Exactly what she'd not wanted to happen. The Foot were not going to work with the Kraang at all. And with the amount of equipment and weaponry liberated by Foot attacks...

Their assets were dwindling rapidly. It could only get worse if they threw in, eurgh...

Triceratons...


End file.
